This is People's Daily Tonight, your news source from China. 

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China's icebreaker Xuelong in good condition, despite collision 

China's icebreaker Xuelong headed east to the Great Wall Station in the Antarctic after colliding with an iceberg.

At that time, Xuelong was in dense ice areas, where the onboard radar had limited range.

The varying weather was also a major factor.

At the time, thick fog suddenly came in and limited the line of sight, so the iceberg could only be observed at close range.

Xuelong will be further checked by domestic ship experts at the Great Wall Station when it arrive. (People's Daily app)

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Renowned Chinese writer Lin Qingxuan dies at 65 

Chinese author Lin Qingxuan has died at the age of 65, local media reported on Wednesday.

Born to a "peasant" family in Taiwan, Lin knew he wanted to become a writer at the young age of 8. He went on to become one of Taiwan's most famous names in literature, and was selected as one of the eight masters of contemporary prose in China.

He was awarded numerous prizes, and his most influential literary work is a series of books titled Zen prose. (CGTN)

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Putin, Abe make no breakthrough in peace treaty talks 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday failed to reach a major consensus on decades-old territorial disputes that have mired peace treaty talks.

Putin said Russia and Japan have "meticulous work ahead" on creating conditions for reaching a peace treaty.

Abe said that he and Putin discussed the peace treaty issue "without hiding anything from each other."

He said the two leaders agreed to continue joint work to look for a mutually acceptable solution. (Xinhua)

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Drone disrupts air traffic into Newark (AFP)

A drone briefly disrupted air traffic Tuesday at Newark airport, one of New York's three major hubs for air traffic, US officials said.

There were no further drones sighted, and arrivals were allowed to resume after a "short" suspension, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman told AFP.

The FAA ordered a ground stop for other flights heading to Newark, however, until the "backlog" of arrivals landing at the airport were cleared.

Drones have caused a growing number of flight disruptions in recent weeks. In December, London's Gatwick airport was paralyzed for 36 hours after a drone sighting.

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China revises regulation to better protect world's largest telescope

No cell phones, no digital cameras, and no smart wearable devices -- the Guizhou provincial government has revised a regulation to keep the noise down and prevent human activities from affecting the world's largest telescope.

A blanket ban was enforced on radio equipment and electromagnetic gadgets, including tablets, speakers and drones, in the core silence zone of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope.

Visitors and tourists who enter the quiet area shall abide by the regulation to minimize confusing operations of the telescope.

Since FAST began its trial operation in 2016, it has seen a tourist surge. (Xinhua)

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Pompeo optimistic about outcome of US-China trade talks

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday he was optimistic that US-China trade talks would have a good outcome and the two countries could "thrive and prosper together."

"There are those who say that conflict, superpower conflict between our two countries is inevitable. We don't see it that way. We want to find places where we can work together," Pompeo told the World Economic Forum participants via video link.

Pompeo canceled his trip to Davos due to the current US government shutdown.

Commenting on the next round of US-China trade talks, Pompeo said he was optimistic that the Chinese delegation would be well received and both sides would "have a good outcome from those conversations."(Xinhua)

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Israel warns of further strikes if Gaza unrest continues

 

And Israel's military warned that it is prepared to escalate its attacks if unrest in the Gaza Strip continues.

On Tuesday evening, Israeli military jets carried out several air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip, killing a 24-year-old Hamas militant and injuring four others.

A military spokesperson said in a statement that the attacks were retaliation for several "shooting incidents" along the fence between the besieged Palestinian enclave and Israel. (Xinhua)

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And that's People's Daily Tonight. Thanks for joining us.

(Produced by David Nye and Qu Qiuyan)